Multiple services that are available within a single network may have dramatically different bandwidth requirements. Examples include machine type communications (MTC) which have a relatively small bandwidth requirement within an overall system bandwidth and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) which has a relatively large bandwidth requirement within the system bandwidth.
There is a general need for efficient bandwidth usage. In addition, it would be desirable for MTC devices to be as low-cost as possible. Current Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems consist of signaling and control channel structures in which different services are supported with the same signaling and control channel structures in the same bandwidth. Introducing a new service can only be supported by the same structure, which may not be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the different bandwidth and coverage requirements of the new service.